Traditional cropping
Traditional winter crop systems, such as those dominated by swedes, fodder beet and kale, are characterised as having a high yield from a defined area. They have advantages over pasture species such as continued growth into the winter (to a lower temperature), provide high feed energy with good utilisation, and are simply managed by the farmer.
However, there are disadvantages, namely mud. The mud is problematic due to many factors, such as:
- Reducing feed intake
- Animals lying on the mud takes extra energy
- Being in the mud can increase disease
- Poor utilisation of feed leading to poor stock performance in bad weather
- Unbalanced nutrition
- Soil pugging can lead to sediment loss
- Nitrate leaching in spring
- Exposure during severe weather events
To mitigate these disadvantages, there are three alternative wintering methods that farmers can employ – multi-graze/multi-species crops, all-grass wintering and hay bale grazing.